Department of Education Response to the Attacks of September 11

Department of Education Response to the Attacks of September 11

Article excerpt

Following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of Education issued several announcements regarding aid and assistance that the department planned to provide.

Aid for the School Districts Directly Affected

Within days of the terrorist attacks, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced that the department had contacted the chief state school officers and local school authorities in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Washington, D.C., to offer them assistance with counseling and support services for students and faculty.

On September 17, Paige and President George W. Bush announced that the U.S. Department of Education had delivered a $4 million immediate service grant to the New York City Board of Education. The grant is part of the department's Project SERV, and the president called it the first step in the Education Department's efforts to help students, families and teachers in New York who had been affected by the attacks. This grant was to be followed by a series of grants to other school districts in New York State and in the other states that had been directly affected.

Loan Relief

The U.S. Department of Education has directed lenders who have made or hold federal student loans to provide financial relief from monthly loan payments to those borrowers affected by the terrorist attacks. Lenders are directed to grant "mandatory administrative forbearance" to borrowers who live or work in the New York City disaster assistance area. This procedure allows those borrowers to postpone or reduce the amount of monthly payments from September 11, 2001, through January 31, 2002, due to the change in their financial circumstances resulting from the attacks. Beyond January, documentation and a written forbearance agreement between loan holder and borrower will be required.

Forbearance will also be granted to borrowers outside of the disaster area who were affected by the hijackings and attacks. …